Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 27, 2011

But should you actually write one if you’re a startup, an industry figure (lawyer, banker) or VC? People often ask me why I started blogging. It really started simply enough. I know that I have not yet earned these kudos based on investment returns (although my partners have. Absofuckinglutely. accessibility.

Blogging 373

Blogging Startup Writing Venture Capital 373

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 14, 2013

Creating awareness for your brand and products is one of the lifebloods of technology startups yet in a world where so many companies are being created it becomes difficult to rise above the noise. Ever notice how some companies tend to be in the press all the time and your big new product launch struggled for inches?

Marketing 389

Marketing Press Blogging Startup 389

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

If you have a unique creation or invention, and you are not selling it around the world on the Internet, now is the time to start. Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, venture capitalists, or Angels. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up.

Commerce 99

Commerce Startup Sites Tool 99

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 15, 2017

I can’t change who your board members are so let me offer some thoughts on how to make your interactions with your board more productive. But I find that the more informed your board is and the more you’re staying on their radar screen the more effective they’ll be for you.

Tips 212

Tips Slides Startup Technical Review 212

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 6, 2012

It all started in 2010 with Klout. I had always liked and respected CEO Joe Fernandez but could never get my head around the fact that the Klout was putting up charts showing who influenced me and it didn’t map to the reality I knew in my head. Every startup needs accounting and it’s often a huge distraction and non core.

Cornerstone OnDemand 303

Cornerstone OnDemand Venture Capital GRP Partners Startup 303

socalTECH

JUNE 27, 2011

Well, you shouldn't have to be -- or at least, that's the premise behind Payoff.com (www.payoff.com), a new startup launching today. Scott Saunders: I spent nearly my entire career on the investment side, and in 2005 switched over to the entrepreneurial side of the world. I built up the company, the Walz Group, with partners.

Startup 197

Startup Ideas Southern California Social Network 197

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. IPOs in 2008, the market was up to a still trivial 128 in 2012 (compared to 675 in 1996). Loss of control.

Startup 89

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 89

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans take too much time, are inaccurate, and rarely add value. The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business.

Technical Review 126

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2014

Starting a new business is a serious undertaking. As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Entrepreneur 106

Entrepreneur Startup Ideas Framework 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2018

Starting a new business is a serious undertaking. As an entrepreneur, you need to start early to implement the discipline and business practices that will lead to success. Duffy emphasizes the often overlooked personal side of entrepreneurship, including balancing finances, relationships, and your health. Moderate your optimism.

Startup 63

Startup Ideas Framework Entrepreneur 63

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 24, 2022

As a business consultant and angel investor, I often ask for your own assessment of marketing ROI , or customer acquisition cost (CAC). While I realize that a high level of certainty in these numbers is an elusive goal, the value of doing the work, and benchmarking your business against competitors is well worth the effort.

Custom 100

Custom Customer Acquisition Technical Review 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

If you have a unique creation or invention, and you are not selling it around the world on the Internet, now is the time to start. Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, venture capitalists, or angels. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up.

Commerce 88

Commerce Startup Sites Tool 88

Tech Zulu Event

JUNE 16, 2014

We recently sat down with Luc Berlin, co-founder of Miigle, a SoCal startup that has an aggressive global mission to bring entrepreneurs together from around the world. We followed up with Luc to see just how he’s been managing the entrepreneurial waters. The quintessential problem that every startup has is one of visibility.

SoCal 104

SoCal Southern California Startup Platform 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2011

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. companies made the IPO transition in 2009, out of thousands of startups. Only about a dozen U.S. Loss of control.

Startup 94

Startup Entrepreneur Report Summary 94

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 10, 2013

If you have a unique creation or invention, and you are not selling it around the world on the Internet, now is the time to start. Anyone can be an entrepreneur today, without a huge investment, bank loans, venture capitalists, or Angels. In the early days (20 years ago), most new e-commerce sites cost a million dollars to set up.

Sites 78

Sites Commerce Startup Tool 78

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2011

By John Williams Fast Company magazine recently reported that PayPal founder Paul Thiel is giving away $100,000 to twenty-four young men and women to finance startup businesses. Thiel is providing his mentees with capital to make their startups a reality. People love the fact that Microsoft was started in a garage.

Startup 92

Startup Capital Blogging Ideas 92

InfoChachkie

JANUARY 16, 2018

I have been watching ProductPlan for several years, as the founders are both friends and pillars of the Santa Barbara Startup Community. Greathouse: We’ve known each other for a long time but let’s start with the basics for my readers. I have always worked on early stage products. Semick: They are.

Venture Capital 115

Venture Capital Entrepreneur Santa Barbara SaaS 115

InfoChachkie

JULY 14, 2011

This is especially true for companies with expensive and complex products or services that are more consultative in nature, like insurance, financial services, home services, education and travel, etc. How has your history with Jason Spievak , Colin Kelley and the rest of the former CallWave team shaped and benefited the company?

Marketing 209

Marketing Advertising Paid Search Startup 209

Tech Zulu Event

AUGUST 27, 2013

Many new startups and small businesses are shooting to crowdfund their campaign. Do you believe in crowdfunding over the traditional ways of investing? Kate Drane: It is not about who prefers crowdfunding over investing and vice versa. Would you see startups and small businesses lean towards more into crowdfunding?

Startup 74

Startup Funding Capital Help 74

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2012

They don’t realize that this option would likely be their worst nightmare, since it costs millions for the road show, usually dilutes your equity to a tiny fraction, and takes away all your entrepreneurial control. IPOs in 2008, the market was up to a still trivial 159 in 2011. After a record low of 39 U.S. Loss of control.

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Startup Report Summary 95

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 15, 2010

We’re staring to get the hang of how to divide the show up into talking about deals but also talking about issues for entrepreneurs during funding. In terms of topics we spoke about: - Do VC’s send your presentations around to other people if they don’t fund you? short answer: very, very rarely. But it does happen. Short answer: no.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Startup Advertising Redpoint 285

Tech Coast Venture Network

MARCH 31, 2010

It is not that they lack a good product! So we know that your in business to succeed - what kind of plans do you need: Business Plan. Current owner investment. This can be a competent of your business plan or a separate document, but in either case it need only be a couple of pages long. Marketing Plan.

Sample 140

Sample Social Media Incubator Marketing 140

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

Brands didn’t advertise their web pages they advertised “AOL Keywords.&# If you were a newly minted, venture-backed consumer Internet company you had to have a deal with AOL to reach your customers. By the mid-nineties we had the World Wide Web, which gave us a standard way to publish web pages using HTML.

Social Network 297

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Web 297

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 17, 2009

As you probably know, PayPal just opened up their platform to outside developers, and we took a look at that and the opportunity it presented, and build something based on the PayPal API. Lottay's gift are virtual things--anything you want--attached to real money, in a PayPal account. That's where I came along.

Evite 157

Evite Startup Ideas Ticketmaster 157

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

It was an online community like CompuServe and eventually started offering people dial-up access to the Internet for a monthly fee. Brands didn’t advertise their web pages they advertised “AOL Keywords.&# You couldn’t pick up a magazine in the 96-99 timeframe without seeing AOL Keywords advertised everywhere.

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Web 2.0 Startup 318

Jason Nazar

MAY 2, 2016

I’ve spent almost 20 years starting businesses and helping hundreds of clients, colleges & friends start theirs. I created this resource to have the single most comprehensive guide anywhere on all the different items involved in starting a business. Protect your written works and code through the Copyright Office.

Outsource Development 40

Outsource Development Startup Google Mentor 40

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

As a startup mentor and investor, I am approached regularly by aspiring entrepreneurs who assert that business plans are a waste of time. The size of the document should be based on your style, but 10-20 pages or slides are usually more than adequate to outline even a complex business.

Technical Review 109

Technical Review Writing Entrepreneur Slides 109

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

15desks.com), a new startup focused on the education market. We talked with him on why he decided to head up this startup, and what 15desks is all about. Zareh Baghdasarian: 15desks is all about managing your educational lifestyle, all the way from early education to your graduate work.

Education 124

Education Startup Course Tool 124

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

It conjures up a range of emotions anytime I’ve privately expressed my opinion to thought leaders in our industry that I believe it is one of the most innovative companies in digital media. I asked Jonah about his started position in photos, lists, GIFs and text and where he thought video fit in. Others are skeptical, “Ha!

Buzzfeed 210

Buzzfeed Media Content News 210

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

After weeks of StartupDemo submissions we are now ready to announce the participating startup companies for the StartupDemo event being held at Wokano Sept. We took great consideration for every startup company that applied. We took into account innovation and entrepreneurship, style and appeal, originality, community, and value.

Company 106

Company Companies Web Evite 106

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 14, 2013

Of course there are scenarios where a written business plan is not critical, but I haven’t seen one yet where a well-written 15-page document, or at least a 10-slide pitch, is a negative. You have built a successful startup, and plan to use the same investors. On the other hand, your mother probably won’t read one.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Technical Review Writing Slides 100

Tech Zulu Event

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Armed with a degree in Marketing and Business from University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and an Operations experience from Ireland, UAE and Egypt , Ciaran Connolly, 36 teamed up with Ernist Turdubaev 33, with a Master of Arts – Retail and Government Sector to launch ProfileTree. What are your backgrounds?

Advertising 79

Advertising Services Social Network Startup 79

socalTECH

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

This morning's interview is with Billy Fried , co-founder and CEO of Kijubi (www.kijubi.com), a new startup which is looking to help people find travel activities. What's your background and how did you decide to start the site? I was in advertising and marketing, working in Newport Beach on the Mazda account.

Activity 164

Activity Startup Sites Web 164

SoCal Delicious

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Heres 5 steps to start exploring: View the "Best Of" list with 50+ essays on viral marketing, gaming, and ads » Get introduced: About this blog, why entrepreneurs and marketers recommend it » Receive updates by email or RSS feed or Twitter. Write me an e-mail and let me know what youre up to! Step 1: Prototypes.

Startup 29

Startup IP Email Report 29

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

One useful technique for keeping your eyes focused on what really matters is Cayenne Consulting’s Venture Value Scorecard™. The Venture Value Scorecard is a one-page summary of your company’s achievements and assets: the factors that contribute to the value of your organization.

.Net 89

.Net Metrics Competition Template 89

Tech Zulu Event

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

We will be bringing you some of the hottest startups around to give you a quick rundown about their companies and get to know the entrepreneur behind those companies. For those of you who may not know about StartupDemo, it is an event that TechZulu and Schmoozd have partnered up to bring you some of the hottest startups around.

Social Media 71

Social Media Technical Review Mixergy Tech Coast Angels 71

socalTECH

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

It's been awhile since we last caught up with Los Angeles-based Language Weaver (www.languageweaver.com), a venture-backed firm which develops language translation software, so we sat down the other day with Mark Tapling , the President and CEO of the firm, to hear more about where the company is nowadays--plus its strategy for growth and an exit.

Software Review 145

Software Review USC Content Tech Coast Angels 145